Council spending on agency staff triples over past three years
‘SHOCK” new figures have revealed Glasgow City Council’s agency worker spending has more than trebled over the past three years.
Data shows a total of £850,724.03 was spent on 33.31 full-time equivalent staff in the local authority’s neighbourhoods and sustainability department across 2018/19, which skyrocketed to £2,768,733.21 for 110.8 workers throughout the 2020/21 financial year up to February 14.
Opposition councillors have slammed the increase as waste of taxpayers’ cash and claimed it’s a “backwards” bid to cut spending.
Councillor Martin McElroy said: “These figures will come as a huge shock to taxpayers across Glasgow, and SNP councillors have a lot to answer for.
“Using agency workers instead of direct employment is counterproductive and costs a lot more money in the long term.
“We should be supporting our frontline staff, not employing them on insecure agency terms and conditions.
“Glasgow’s budget has been cut for 14 consecutive years and wasting money like this just means more service cuts to people who rely on the services provided by the council. Our city deserves better.”
In 2019/20, 102.33 fulltime equivalent staff cost the council £1,503,616.37.
The costs also include all training employees are required to complete before beginning work in the role.
It’s not known how many agency staff – or at what cost – are employed throughout the entire local authority.
Councillor Paul Carey said: “This is incredible from this administration.
“A number of my constituents have contacted me who have been agency workers for a number of years now and they cannot get a permanent job.
“This means they cannot plan for the future for themselves and their families.
“Agency work in the council does suit some people but, on this scale, it is clear this administration is using agency staff to save money, so they don’t have to pay holiday or pension contributions for these workers – in other words, this is nothing other than a money-saving exercise.
“The amount being spent each year could easily employ about instead of to private agencies.”
A spokesman for the council said it was committed to offering as many permanent positions as possible.
He added: “Agency staff are only ever brought in to provide cover when it is absolutely necessary to do so and then only ever on a temporary basis.
“Our priority is always to ensure that key services such as refuse collections continue to operate as effectively as possible, even if the service is affected by illness or difficulties with recruitment to particular roles.
“It must be noted that the figures referred to do cover the entirety of the Covid-19 pandemic so far and like any other employer we have experienced periods of significant absence and barriers to recruitment during this time.
“The council is committed to providing as many secure job opportunities as possible and many agency staff do move on to permanent jobs with us.
“We remain focused on using available resources to deliver effective services, which ensures public finances are being managed responsibly.” 150 workers paying out recruitment